Forces children and young people are co-producing a new mental health and wellbeing service in Scotland with Forces Children Scotland.
Your Mind Matters will aim to better understand and respond to the challenges that they face. A working group of children and young people has made great progress laying the foundations for a digital platform.
Hope is a member of the group. She says: “I really enjoy the mix of sessions which allow me to build a rapport with other forces young people.
“This is something I had not experienced before as, growing up as a daughter of a serviceman in the navy, I didn’t receive any welfare or educational support until I found out about Forces Children Scotland.
“I think many might assume if you don’t move around with your parents that everything is fine when, in fact, growing up I had no peers who could relate to the ups and downs of being part of a military family.
“This was compounded further as a young person with additional support needs.
“I would encourage any young person from a forces family to join us because it’s about taking our experiences and ideas forward to create a hub for young people to easily access support.”
To join the working group, email wellbeing@forceschildrenscotland.org.uk
Forces Children Scotland is also behind Forces Life – a project to develop a military family-themed board game and comic book.
Inspiration came from creative workshops delivered by Dekko Comics and attended by members of the charity’s Military Youth Forum.
Emily, who took part in the sessions, says: “The project will teach civilian friends and teachers what it is like to be a forces child and they’ll be able to better understand how it feels when parents are deployed.”
The game and comic will launch in February. To contribute your ideas, go to https://forceschildrenscotland.org.uk/